Swiss to erect 1st national memorial honoring Nazi victims

2023/04/28 Leave a comment

Over due, but test will be how it interprets Switzerland’s role in persecution of Jews and others during the Nazi regime:

Switzerland’s executive body agreed Wednesday to help pay for a national memorial to honor the six million Jews and other victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution, in what the leading Swiss Jewish group is calling the country’s first official monument of its kind.

The Federal Council, the seven-member executive branch, approved 2.5 million Swiss francs (about $2.8 million) for the memorial that will be erected at an unspecified “central location” in the capital, Bern, at a time when the number of Holocaust survivors has dwindled and antisemitism has risen again.

“The Federal Council considers it of great importance to keep alive the memory of the consequences of National Socialism, namely the Holocaust and the fate of the six million Jews and all other victims of the National Socialist regime,” a government statement said.

Switzerland and its capital, through the move, were “creating a strong symbol against genocide, antisemitism and racism, and for democracy, the rule of law, freedom and basic individual rights,” it said.

The statement did not mention whether the memorial would make any direct reference to any Swiss role in the persecution of people during the Nazi regime in Germany.

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, an umbrella group, said Switzerland has about 60 small, private sites remembering the Holocaust and other crimes of the Nazis.

“There is, however, no official or national memorial for the numerous Swiss victims of persecution, for the thousands of refugees repelled at the borders or deported, but also for the many courageous helpers in this country,” it said, noting that the memorial would be created to honor them all.

The group says recent studies have shown that a “sizeable number” of Swiss citizens were victims of the Nazi regime, “persecuted because they were, for example, Jews, socialists, Sinti or Roma.” Both Sinti and Roma are peoples who live predominantly in eastern Europe.

It noted that thousands of people flocked toward Swiss borders during World War II seeking protection, only to be “repelled and, in many cases, sent back to certain death.”

Switzerland has long grappled with its ties to Nazi Germany — not least through a call for national introspection on the issue from its first Jewish and woman president, Ruth Dreifuss, in 1999.

The country was neutral during WWII, but a government-appointed panel in 1997 found Switzerland had taken part in over three-fourths of worldwide gold transactions by Nazi Germany’s Reichsbank — both as buyer and intermediary.

Source: Swiss to erect 1st national memorial honoring Nazi victims

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Canada developing new immigration policy to attract French-speaking people — especially teachers

2023/04/28 Leave a comment

Of note (last year they met the target for francophone immigration):

The Liberal government says it is developing a new policy on francophone immigration as a way to grow the French language in Canada.

Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor says it’s an advantage for Canada to have a bilingual workforce and population.

The policy is part of a five-year action plan for official languages the government released today.

Source: Canada developing new immigration policy to attract French …

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Des immigrants se disent injustement recalés en français par Québec

2023/04/28 Leave a comment

A noter:

Québec accuse de nombreux immigrants d’avoir menti sur leurs compétences linguistiques et les recale lors d’une entrevue orale, en dépit d’une preuve attestant qu’ils ont déjà réussi le niveau requis en français, a appris Le Devoir. Plusieurs d’entre eux peuvent même être « bannis pour cinq ans » du processus de sélection du Québec, dénoncent des avocats.

Ces derniers — et leurs clients — déplorent ce qu’ils qualifient d’acharnement de la part du ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI). « Québec cherche des façons innovantes de torturer des gens, des gens qui ont le malheur d’être convoqués en entrevue pour qu’on évalue leur niveau de français », laisse tomber David Chalk, un avocat en droit de l’immigration, dont certains clients ont été recalés.

Le Devoir s’est entretenu en français, à l’oral et à l’écrit, avec plusieurs candidats à l’immigration n’ayant pas le français comme langue maternelle qui ont été convoqués à une entrevue. Il préserve leur anonymat pour ne pas nuire à leurs démarches.

D’origine chinoise, Chang déplore la façon dont il a été traité par le MIFI, qu’il qualifie d’« arrogant » et d’« irresponsable ».

Le jeune homme a fait une maîtrise dans une université anglophone d’ici et dit être « tombé en amour » avec le Québec. Le Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ) lui permettait de réaliser son rêve d’immigrer, mais il devait apprendre le français et obtenir l’équivalent du fameux « niveau 7 » sur l’Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français.

Au printemps 2022, après avoir réussi tous les tests de français oraux et écrits agréés par le MIFI, il a demandé le Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ), le précieux sésame lui permettant de demander la résidence permanente au gouvernement fédéral. Or, son rêve s’est effondré lorsqu’il a été convoqué quelques mois plus tard à une entrevue de contrôle par le ministère de l’Immigration du Québec. Celui-ci lui a dit avoir des raisons de croire qu’il avait soumis des « documents faux ou trompeurs » pour attester de son niveau de français, ce que nie le principal intéressé.

Au terme de l’entretien, qui « s’est très mal passé », Chang s’est vu octroyer un niveau 4. Dans la lettre du MIFI, on l’informe aussi que sous prétexte qu’il a menti sur ses compétences en français, toute nouvelle demande qu’il voudrait soumettre pourrait ne pas être évaluée, et ce, pour les cinq prochaines années. « J’étais dévasté », a-t-il dit.

Le Devoir a pu consulter la lettre de refus, qui, ironiquement, contenait plusieurs coquilles. Elle détaille, au moyen d’exemples, certains problèmes de français du candidat, notamment en commentant sa prononciation. « On a ridiculisé mon accent », déplore Chang dans un français tout de même compréhensible pour Le Devoir.

Ce jeune homme s’indigne surtout du fait que le MIFI l’accuse d’avoir menti, de ne pas avoir « démontré la véracité de [sa] déclaration sur [sa] connaissance du français oral ». Selon lui, ayant déjà obtenu l’équivalent d’un niveau 7 à un examen de français reconnu par le MIFI, il était normal qu’il affirme détenir ce niveau. « En aucun cas, je n’ai eu l’intention de tromper qui que ce soit dans le processus ! »

Une pratique illégale ?

Pour Me David Chalk, le ministère veut « piéger » les gens. « Cette question n’a aucune raison d’être posée, sauf pour accuser quelqu’un de fausse déclaration. »

Ningsi Mei, une avocate qui dit avoir de plus en plus de clients refusés, estime que l’entretien, auquel participent un agent du MIFI et un enseignant, est subjectif. « C’est un jugement personnel. »

Après avoir été recalés à l’entrevue du MIFI, plusieurs de ses clients ont quitté le Québec, soit pour une autre province soit pour leur pays d’origine. « Ils me disent qu’ils ne se sentent pas les bienvenus ici. Ils croient que le [gouvernement] veut juste limiter le nombre d’immigrants et qu’il ne veut pas de ceux qui ne parlent pas parfaitement le français », a rapporté l’avocate.

Me David Chalk se dit surtout agacé par les présomptions de tromperie qui servent à justifier une convocation en entrevue. « Pourquoi alléguer d’emblée que le candidat est un fraudeur ? »

En 2016, des soupçons de fraude et de production de faux documents avaient mené l’Unité permanente anticorruption à ouvrir une enquête, ont révélé des documents de cour. C’est ce qui avait incité le ministère de l’Immigration du Québec à vérifier de manière plus proactive le niveau de français oral des candidats au PEQ en les convoquant en entrevue.

Or, cette pratique a été contestée devant les tribunaux en 2017. Les avocats avaient fait valoir que les preuves soumises par leurs clients pour attester leur niveau de français dans le cadre du PEQ étaient conformes à la loi, contrairement aux tests de français oral supplémentaires menés par le MIFI.

Un jugement de la Cour supérieure rendu en décembre 2018, confirmé par la Cour d’appel, leur avait donné raison et avait forcé le MIFI à annuler ses décisions de refus de CSQ pour une cinquantaine d’immigrants, surtout originaires de l’Asie.

En août 2018, le Règlement sur l’immigration a été changé, et le ministre peut désormais exiger qu’« une personne démontre une connaissance du français oral au niveau 7 », a affirmé Émilie Vézina, porte-parole du ministère. Quant aux présomptions de fraude qui servent à la convocation des gens en entrevue, on se contente d’expliquer que c’est « en fonction des faits propres à chaque demande ».

D’après les données du MIFI, plus de 2000 personnes se sont soumises à cette entrevue depuis l’automne 2016. Les convocations ont connu une augmentation et sont en voie de rattraper le niveau prépandémique. Quant au taux d’échec, il varie beaucoup, allant de 16 % à 84 % selon les années.

Convoqués même après avoir obtenu un CSQ

Le Devoir a échangé avec plusieurs immigrants qui se sont fait convoquer en entrevue même après avoir obtenu leur Certificat de sélection du Québec.

C’est le cas d’Emily Zhao, une enseignante et danseuse d’origine chinoise qui est arrivée au Canada il y a huit ans. Elle a obtenu son CSQ en juillet 2018 et attend depuis la résidence permanente pour elle et sa famille. Or, en janvier dernier, elle a, à sa grande surprise, reçu une lettre du MIFI la convoquant en entrevue et l’informant de ses intentions d’annuler son CSQ.

 « C’est comme si vous aviez obtenu votre permis de conduire et que, cinq ans plus tard, on vous appelle pour repasser l’examen et annuler votre permis », a dit cette mère de famille, qui a accepté de témoigner à visage découvert.

Citant la décision des tribunaux, Emily Zhao a refusé de se présenter en entrevue, prétendant qu’il n’était pas légal de vérifier à nouveau son niveau de français. La semaine dernière, elle a finalement reçu une lettre de rétractation du MIFI : son CSQ demeurera valide.

Mme Zhao craint d’avoir été placée sur une « liste noire » de personnes ayant obtenu leur CSQ alors que des soupçons de corruption pesaient sur le programme. Elle craint aussi que la remise en question de son certificat ait suspendu le traitement de sa demande de résidence permanente au fédéral, ce qui expliquerait la longue attente.

Selon le MIFI, depuis septembre 2021, 70 personnes ayant déjà obtenu un CSQ ont été convoquées à une entrevue visant à vérifier leur français oral, et près de 60 % ont échoué.

Après s’être vu refuser son CSQ, Chang est rentré en Chine la semaine dernière. Pour lui, c’était comme « tout jeter et partir ». Il croit que son expérience a découragé certains de ses amis. « Ils ont peur d’essayer. Parce qu’ils savent à quel point j’ai essayé d’apprendre le français. »

Source: Des immigrants se disent injustement recalés en français par Québec

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Porter: It’s OK to ask whether immigration is intensifying our housing crisis

2023/04/27 Leave a comment

Reasonable question as many have increasingly been asking. Of course, housing availability and affordability affect everyone, Canadian-born and immigrants:

According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s population grew by 1,050,110 people in 2022. International migration accounted for 95.9 per cent of this growth.

Some have questioned whether Canada’s immigration policy is at odds with its efforts to address the housing crisis. Paul Kershaw of UBC has pointed out that newcomers, through no fault of their own, will amplify demand for housing and drive up home prices. CIBC CEO Victor Dodig recently expressed concern that increasing immigration levels without first increasing housing supply risks triggering Canada’s “largest social crisis” over the next decade.

Others argue that it is too simplistic, even xenophobic, to ask whether high levels of international migration could be intensifying our housing crisis. They argue that the blame for the housing crisis lies with government, which has failed for decades to build sufficient housing to accommodate predictable population growth, and that individual migrants are no more responsible for our housing crisis than they are responsible for overcrowding on public transit.

While this argument has superficial appeal, it suffers from three fallacies.

First, it conflates immigrants — individuals who, by definition, have just moved to Canada, and therefore can’t possibly be responsible for our long-standing housing crisis (indeed, they’re probably victims of it) — with immigration policy, which is set by government and is a proper subject of political debate. Individual immigrants are clearly blameless, but it is legitimate to ask whether our government could be exacerbating the housing crisis through its immigration policy.

Second, it confuses the ultimate cause of our housing crisis with its proximate causes. A multi-decade failure by government to build enough housing for our growing population may be the ultimate cause of the crisis. But that doesn’t mean that high levels of international migration to Canada in 2022 were not a proximate cause of the market conditions that tenants experienced last year, including low vacancy rates and an 18 per cent annual increase in average rent for a vacant unit.

Third, it implies that by asking whether our immigration policy is intensifying the housing crisis, we are effectively blaming immigrant families for the crisis. This is an in terrorem argument that uses fear — fear of making immigrants feel unwelcome, or fear of being labelled xenophobic — to discourage us from honestly examining the effects of our immigration policy and openly debating whether the benefits are worth the costs.

Canada’s population grew by over a million people last year, in the midst of a housing crisis that sees more than 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness annually. It is reasonable to ask whether maintaining such high levels of international migration will lead to mass evictions, displacement, and homelessness for tenants; and, if so, how many tenants we are willing to sacrifice to achieve the benefits of population growth. 

Refusing to ask and answer these questions does a disservice to ourselves and to the migrants who will someday call Canada home.

Source: It’s OK to ask whether immigration is intensifying our housing crisis

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In a growing India, some struggle to prove they are Indians

2023/04/27 Leave a comment

Of note:

Krishna Biswas is scared. Unable to prove his Indian citizenship, he is at risk of being sent to a detention center, far away from his modest hut built of bamboo wood that looks down on fields lush with corn.

Biswas says he was born in India’s northeastern Assam state. So was his father, almost 65 years ago. But the government says that to prove he is an Indian, he should furnish documents that date back to 1971.

For the 37-year-old vegetable seller, that means searching for a decades-old property deed or a birth certificate with an ancestor’s name on it.

Biswas has none, and he is not alone. There are nearly 2 million people like him — over 5% of Assam’s population — staring at a future where they could be stripped of their citizenship if they are unable to prove they are Indian.

Questions over who is an Indian have long lingered over Assam, which many believe is overrun with immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

At a time when India is about to overtake China as the most populous country, these concerns are expected to heighten as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government seeks to use illegal immigration and fears of demographic shift for electoral gains in a nation where nationalist sentiments run deep.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has promised to roll out a similar citizenship verification program nationwide even though the process in Assam has been put on hold after a federal audit found it flawed and full of errors.

Nonetheless, hundreds of suspected immigrants with voting rights in Assam have been arrested and sent to detention centers the government calls “transit camps.” Fearing arrest, thousands have fled to other Indian states. Some have died of suicide.

Millions of people like Biswas, whose citizenship status is unclear, were born in India to parents who immigrated many decades ago. Many of them have voting cards and other identification, but the state’s citizenship registry counts only those who can prove, with documentary evidence, that they or their ancestors were Indian citizens before 1971, the year Bangladesh was born.

Modi’s party, which also rules Assam, argues the registry is essential to identify people who entered the country illegally in a state where ethnic passions run deep and anti-immigrant protests in the 1980s culminated in the massacre of more than 2,000 immigrant Muslims.

“My father and his brother were born here. We were born here. Our kids were also born here. We will die here but not leave this place,” Biswas, said on a recent afternoon at his home in Assam’s Murkata village, near the banks of the Brahmaputra River.

The Biswas family has 11 members, of whom the citizenship of nine is in dispute. His wife and mother have been declared Indian by a foreigners’ tribunal that decides on citizenship claims. Others, including his three children, his father and his brother’s family, have been declared “foreigners.”

It makes no sense to Biswas, who wonders why would some be considered to have settled in the country illegally and others not, even though they all were born in the same place.

The family, like many others, has not pleaded their case before the tribunal or higher courts due to a lack of money and the arduous paperwork required in the process.

“If we cannot be Indian then just kill us. Let them (the government) kill my whole family,” he said.

Source: In a growing India, some struggle to prove they are Indians

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These refugees are coming to Canada as health-care workers. Trouble is, they’ve been waiting for years

2023/04/27 Leave a comment

Innovative initiative with implementation issues:

For nine years, Patricia Kamssor has been working in a clinic in a refugee camp in Kenya doing everything from cleaning and dressing wounds to giving injections, treating infections caused by eating infected goats and cows, and helping one child who had a piece of corn stuck in their nose.

Established in 1992, Kakuma is one of the world’s largest refugee camps, home to 260,570 people who have fled violence in nearby African countries. It is hot, dusty and congested, with rows and rows of what is meant to be temporary housing made from clay and thin sheets of metal in Kenya’s northwestern corner.

It’s also Kamssor’s home. She’s a refugee herself, and she’s been invited to come to Canada to work in a nursing home on Nova Scotia’s south shore.

Source: These refugees are coming to Canada as health-care workers. Trouble is, they’ve been waiting for years

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Claudia Hepburn: What newcomers say about Canadian immigration and how to improve it

2023/04/27 Leave a comment

More anecdotal and general than specific with some exceptions:

When Dr. Binal Patel immigrated, she got a job assembling sandwiches in a fast-food restaurant to provide for her baby daughter. A dentist trained in India, Dr. Patel wondered how she was ever going to afford the fees for the Canadian dental exams and, if she did not, how she would ever regain her self-respect and provide adequately for her children in Canada.

Canada’s immigration numbers are rising year after year. During the 2021 census nearly one-in-four people identified as immigrants, the largest proportion of Canadian immigrants ever, and highest among G7 countries. A considerable portion of them, like Dr. Patel, are well-educated and highly skilled when they arrive.

According to a recent Bloomberg-Nanos poll, most Canadians agree, immigration is good for the Canadian economy. Many also acknowledge that, more than ever before, we need the talents and skills immigrants bring, especially in sectors like health care and IT.

There is less consensus on how well our immigration system is working or what needs to be done to improve it so that immigrants, like Dr. Patel, can integrate efficiently.

In the process of developing a new podcast, we asked 20 experts for their views on Canadian immigration, and for their ideas and initiatives to empower newcomers to integrate faster. Podcast contributors ranged from Canada’s minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to business leaders concerned with productivity and labour supply, to immigrant sector CEOs working daily to support newcomer integration, and social entrepreneurs working to fix what they sometimes described as a broken system. We also captured the insights of skilled newcomers, including Dr. Patel.

We heard creative perspectives on how to strengthen immigration to make it more equitable for newcomers.

Arif Khimani, COO of Calgary-based IT staffing firm MobSquad, talked about his company’s approach. MobSquad identifies international tech professionals with the skills to match the needs of North America businesses. The company takes care of the immigration paperwork and finds the immigrants lucrative roles so that they hit the ground running on arrival in Canada. Employers, immigrants and the economy all benefit.

Shamira Madhany, deputy executive director and managing director for Canada of World Education Services (WES) reminded us that the speed of integration possible for IT talent needs to happen for health care professionals, too. Government, regulators and employers need to do a better job of ensuring that when internationally trained doctors, nurses and pharmacists choose Canada, we put them in a position to contribute their skills to our health care system as quickly as possible.

The perspectives shared with us were often inspiring but also, at times, dispiriting.

Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, a public health physician and professor from Saskatchewan, originally from Nigeria, shared his belief that Canada remains an incredible land of opportunity for newcomers. Meanwhile, immigration advocate and Immigrant Networks founder Nick Noorani, who arrived to Canada from India in 1998, lamented the notion that in Toronto, “the best place to have a heart attack” was the back of an Uber, because of the number of internationally-trained doctors driving them.

What resonated most for me from these conversations was the importance of creativity and cross-sector collaboration to address integration challenges for immigrants. Jennifer Freeman, CEO of Vancouver-based PeaceGeeks told us that newcomers should be given easy access to the information and resources they need to thrive, virtually, wherever they are in Canada. She highlighted that each immigrant comes to this country with a smartphone and there’s no reason, in 2023, their settlement experience can’t be streamlined and simplified through the use of technology. As more countries around the globe experience population aging and skills shortages, the imperative to innovate is growing.

If Canada is serious about welcoming more immigrants and refugees each year, the status quo is not acceptable.

The next Dr. Ndbuka and Dr. Patel may decide the costs — in time and money — of integrating professionally in Canada are too high and choose one of the other countries working to fast-track the integration process for skilled professionals. Solving the challenges to integration our immigrants face will be key to our national prosperity, our health care system and Canada’s future.

Claudia Hepburn is CEO of Windmill Microlending, a national charity that empowers skilled immigrants and refugees to achieve economic prosperity through affordable loans and supports.

Source: Claudia Hepburn: What newcomers say about Canadian immigration and how to improve it

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Les baby-boomers du Québec ne sont pas «pure laine» à 95%

2023/04/26 Leave a comment

Of note:

Selon M. Charles Gaudreault, ingénieur chez H2O Innovation, il faudrait s’attendre à un effondrement de la population québécoise d’« origine ethnique française » allant jusqu’à 45 % en 2050. Préoccupé par l’impact de l’immigration sur les populations des pays d’accueil comme le Canada et ses provinces, il n’a élaboré qu’un seul scénario pour couvrir huit décennies dans la revue Nations and Nationalism.

Ses inspirations lui viennent d’abord du Britannique David Coleman, pour qui « la population britannique blanche devrait tomber à moins de 56 % de la population du Royaume-Uni en 2056 ». Elles proviennent aussi des Américains James Smith et Barry Edmonston, qui ont prévu que la population blanche des États-Unis — à l’exclusion des Hispaniques — ne compterait plus que pour 51 % en 2050.
 
Considérant à tort que le recensement de 1971 offre les données les plus sûres sur l’origine ethnique, M. Gaudreault a effectué sa projection à partir d’un Québec dénombrant 6 millions d’habitants. À cette époque, les Québécois d’origine ethnique française comptaient pour 79 % de la population. Ne restent alors que 21 % pour englober toutes les autres origines, notamment les Premières Nations, les Britanniques, les communautés italiennes et grecques.

Pour justifier son choix, Gaudreault se base sur deux sources dont il a pris connaissance de manière distraite. D’une part, il prétend devoir faire un retour à « la démographie ethnique » après que « les démographes se [sont] tournés vers la démographie linguistique ». D’autre part, il s’appuie sur une étude généalogique d’un groupe de chercheurs sous la direction d’Hélène Vézina.

Il est faux d’affirmer qu’une « démographie ethnique » a déjà existé. S’il y a eu jadis rapprochement entre l’origine ethnique et la langue maternelle, c’était par intérêt pour cette dernière. Richard Arès n’a-t-il pas fait remarquer que « plus on va vers l’ouest, plus les chances du français s’effritent » chez les Canadiens français ?

Ensuite, affirmer « que les ancêtres des baby-boomers étaient à 95 % d’origine française », c’est confondre l’origine ethnique des personnes recensées en 1971 avec 2000 généalogies « contenant plus de cinq millions de mentions d’ancêtres », dont la plupart sont arrivés au XVIIe siècle, prenant ainsi une avance jugée « insurmontable ».

M. Gaudreault a ventilé ses résultats en trois classes étanches, plutôt que de les rendre perméables les unes aux autres, comme chez les démographes. Il y a d’abord les Canadiens français (Ethnic French Canadians). Ensuite, les Autochtones, les Britanniques et tous les autres groupes ethniques recensés en 1971 sont identifiés sous l’appellation Non French Canadians. Enfin, tous les immigrants arrivés depuis 1971, leurs enfants et leurs descendants forment une classe à part (Immigrants and Descendants – IAD).

Notons que le troisième groupe (IAD) réunit tous les immigrants originaires de pays francophones (France, Sénégal, Vietnam, Haïti, etc.) ainsi que tous les enfants que la loi 101 conduit, depuis 1977, dans nos écoles françaises ! Partant donc de zéro en 1971, les effectifs de ce groupe sont les seuls à augmenter sous l’effet de l’immigration. Les deux premiers groupes ne peuvent qu’être marginalisés avec le temps.

Le talon d’Achille : la rétroprojection

La partie rétrospective appartenant déjà à l’histoire, nous avons évalué les résultats de M. Gaudreault pour le groupe IAD à partir des faits démographiques observés entre 1971 et 2001.

Charles Gaudreault affirme que « la sous-population des IAD affiche une augmentation constante, de 0,8 million en 2000, à 2 millions en 2020, à 3 millions en 2035, puis à 4,1 millions en 2050 ». Cette suite de résultats dessine une équation mathématique qui ne tient pas compte des fluctuations de l’immigration. Au départ, il y a une sous-estimation de 29 % (1971-1976), suivie d’une surestimation de 24 % (1977-1988), et ainsi de suite.

Au recensement de 2001, on a dénombré au Québec 510 100 personnes immigrées arrivées durant les trois dernières décennies du XXe siècle. Parmi ces personnes, on comptait 150 800 femmes en âge d’avoir des enfants en 2001. Tous calculs faits, parmi ces Québécois recensés en 2001, nous avons estimé que 118 500 personnes âgées de 30 ans ou moins étaient issues des immigrantes de cette époque.

Selon nos calculs, la somme des immigrés de la période 1971-2001 et de leurs descendants n’est que de 617 000 personnes au lieu des 860 000 obtenues selon la projection de Charles Gaudreault. Force est de reconnaître qu’il y a surestimation de 243 000 personnes du groupe IAD. En pourcentage, cette surestimation est très importante : 39,5 % !

La partie rétroactive de la projection de Charles Gaudreault conduit à une proportion d’Ethnic French Canadians de 64,5 % en 2014. Puisque nos calculs donnent une proportion de 71,2 % pour une sous-estimation de près de 7 points, le maintien des mêmes hypothèses jusqu’en 2050 ne peut que produire, après 35 ans, des résultats sans commune mesure avec les données historiques probantes.

Source: Les baby-boomers du Québec ne sont pas «pure laine» à 95%

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Canada to support Sudanese residents with new immigration measures

2023/04/26 Leave a comment

Appears to be fairly standard basket of measures:

Canada will introduce new immigration measures to support Sudanese temporary residents who are currently in Canada and may be unable to return home due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan, the government said on Monday.

Fighting erupted between Sudan’s armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on April 15 and has killed hundreds of people, knocked out hospitals and other services and turned residential areas into war zones.

Once Canada’s new measures announced by Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser are in place, Sudanese nationals can apply to extend their status in Canada and move between temporary streams, allowing them to continue studying, working or visiting family free of charge, the Canadian government said in a statement.

To facilitate immigration applications for those still in Sudan so they can travel once it is safe to do so, the Canadian government said it will also prioritize processing completed temporary and permanent residence applications already in the system from people still in the country.

This includes visitor visa applications for eligible immediate family members of Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents, it added.

Canada said it will also waive passport and permanent resident travel document fees for citizens and permanent residents of Canada in Sudan who wish to leave.

The U.S. said on Monday that the warring factions in Sudan agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire while Western, Arab and Asian nations raced to extract their citizens.

Canada said on Sunday that it had temporarily suspended operations in Sudan and Canadian diplomats will temporarily work from a safe location outside the country.

Source: Canada to support Sudanese residents with new immigration …

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Germany: 20.2 Million People Had a History of Immigration in 2022

2023/04/26 Leave a comment

Ongoing trend:

The official statistical office of Germany, Destatis, has revealed that in 2022, around 20.2 million people with a history of immigration were living in the country, representing an increase compared to the previous year.

According to Destatis, the number of people that had a history of immigration in 2022 was 1.2 million or 6.5 per cent more than in 2021, when the total number of people with a history of immigration living in Germany stood at 19.0 million, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“In 2022, 20.2 million people with a history of immigration were living in Germany. Based on micro census results, the Federal Statistical Office reports that this was an increase of 1.2 million, or 6.5 per cent, compared with the previous year (2021: 19.0 million),” the statement of Destatis reads.

Following an increase of 1.3 per cent compared to 2021, Destatis said that it means that the group of people with a history of immigration accounted for 24.3 per cent of the entire population in Germany.

The same noted that the proportion of men with a history of immigration living in Germany in 2022 stood at 24.8 per cent, slightly higher than that of women, which stood at 23.8 per cent.

In addition to the above-mentioned, Destatis also shared more specific data on the total population and their immigration history.

Data provided by Destatis show that in 2022, there were a total of 83.1 million people living in Germany. Of the total number, 71 per cent of the total number of the population in 2021 did not have an immigration history, 18 per cent of them were immigrants, six per cent were descendants, and five per cent had a parent with an immigration history.

Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that 17.3 per cent of people living in Germany in 2021 had immigrated since 1950. This means that 14.2 million people living in Germany in 2021 have immigrated to the country since then.

Another 4.7 million people living in the country in 2021 were descendants of immigrants, meaning that they were born in Germany, but both parents had immigrated to the country since 1950.

In general, the number of immigrants living in Germany in 2021 surpassed the EU average, which stands at 10.3 per cent. In terms of the number of immigrants, Germany ranked the seventh on the list in 2021, following Malta, Cyprus, Sweden, Luxembourg, Austria, and Ireland, which all had a higher percentage of immigrants.

Source: Germany: 20.2 Million People Had a History of Immigration in 2022 …

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